Horizon, the EU Research & Innovation Magazine, pays attention to the developments on the soil quality app for smartphones. Today, 13 February 2018, an article entitled "Cultural cross-fertilisation to rescue soils" was published. Dr. Luuk Fleskens explains that wheat growing areas in north-eastern China are comparable to the conditions in Poland. So, farmers can learn from each other how to manage their soils and crops. The soil quality app makes it possible to share the best practice farming techniques with farmers from different cultures and traditions, to help them to increase the quality of their soils. The article was written by Jude Gonzalez. Read it here.

Professor Coen Ritsema of the Wageningen University explains in a video the goals of the iSQAPER project. He stated that the iSQAPER project is focussing on trying to improve the quality of soils and in the same time maintain or increase crop productivity. Multiple problems exists related to soil quality. In Europe there are several soil threats ranging from water and wind erosion, soil degradation, desertification and soil compaction to flooding, landslides and salinization.